Elliot and the Pixie Plot Cover

The illustrator for the "Elliot" series is an artist named Gideon Kendall, who in my opinion is the artistic equivalent of Zeus. So I'm very excited to present the cover for Book 2, ELLIOT AND THE PIXIE PLOT.

In Book 2, Elliot is kidnapped to the Underworld by a mischievous Pixie named Fidget Spitfly. The only way she will send him home again is if he's able to get a sock from the evil Demon Kovol without getting earth destroyed. If that's not enough trouble, Elliot hasn't finished his science project yet.

As a teaser, here's a brief excerpt:

An entire floor of St. Phobics Hospital for Really Scared Children has been set aside just for readers of this book. If you are about to begin reading, then you may wish to take a minute first and reserve yourself a bed there. St. Phobics Hospital is located right on the strip in Las Vegas, one of the brightest places on earth. You may not understand why that’s important now, but somewhere in chapter 18 you will.

As you read, you may begin to understand myctophobia (mic-to-fo-be-a), or the fear of darkness. However, do not expect this book to help you with arachibutyrophobia (a-rak-i-something-be-a), the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. There is no peanut butter in this book. Elliot’s family is out of peanut butter and probably won’t buy any for another month. Nor does this book deal in any way with zemmiphobia (just show the word to your teacher and she’ll pronounce it for you), the fear of the great mole rat, although most readers will agree that great mole rats are pretty freaky.

If you can’t get yourself to St. Phobics Hospital, then there are things you can do at home to protect yourself. First, get every lamp, flashlight, and lantern you can find, and drag them into your bedroom. Turn them all on. Not bright enough? Before we go any further, it is very important, no matter how afraid you are of the dark, that you never, ever light a fire in your bedroom to try to make it brighter. A fire won’t give you that much more light, and it will probably burn your house down. A much better idea is to go to a baseball field and ask the owners if you can borrow all of their field lights for your bedroom. You’ll need them until you’re certain there is nothing in the dark that is going to try to kill you.

At least that’s what Elliot wishes he had done.

ELLIOT AND THE PIXIE PLOT will be released on May 2, 2011. I am already excited!

Jen